The Ocean Agenda
by cascade-of-black-ink
Summary: Danny and the Rat Pack are restless for another wild ripoff, and when their next adventure requires a computer expert, Danny shocks the gang by calling in a well-kept secret . . .
1. Andie Ocean

Author's note: Okay, after hitting on every single Ocean's 12 fic I can find, here is one of my own. I don't mind flames (please, help yourself). This is my very first foray into the world of heists and of Ocean's 11/ 12 so if I get any facts mixed up, please tell me so that I can correct it. I don't own any member of Ocean's 12, but I do own Andie Ocean, Gallagher, Orson, Stanson, Jimsky and any other character that you have not seen in the omovie before. And, oh, one last thing: errors are unavoidable because I have not watched both movies!

Chapter 1

Lying on the belly was not an uncomfortable position, so when her cellphone vibrated painfully at her thigh, Andie's patience was done being patient.

She rolled onto her side, bit her lip to refrain from shouting 'ouch!' when her head hit the cold, concrete wall beside her, and gingerly plucked the irritating and slim gadget from her trouser pocket.

"Hello?" she said gruffly, turning the laptop resting on the floor to her. She kept a close eyes on the blinking red and green dots on the screen as they moved about.

"Andie! I didn't know Athens is a place with very little phone coverage," a wry female voice said.

Mom.

Andie sighed and shifted to adjust her uncomfortable. It couldn't get any better than this. She didn't know which was worse: getting stuck on a small concrete platform in an elevator shaft not knowing when the elevator would get fixed and take her life in the middle of the riskiest heist she had ever pulled off with her small team of bandits, whom she was not going to see ever again after this ripoff; or having her insufferable wanna-know-what-my-daughter-is-doing-right-now mom walking in on her doing the ultimate crime.

"Thanks for caring, Mom. Gotta go!" Andie removed the phone from her ears and was about to flip it close when her mother's angry voice yelled at her: "You're getting more and more like your father, Andromeda Theresa Danielle Ocean! First you run out on your very own birthday celebration, then you start taking 'vacations' to locations where it is so hard to catch hold of you, and now our conversations don't last more than a sentence!"

Andie shut her eyes in exasperation and could picture her mother standing by the phone, her arms folded and her pretty face as red as a raging bull's. That was just Mom.

"Look, Mom, I – I'm really occupied right now. It's not that I don't want to talk to you on purpose, but - "

"Ocean! The elevator! Get the hell out of there!" Her earpiece buzzed painfully in her ear. Andie looked up and saw the no-longer stagnant elevator moving downwards towards her. She shrieked and gathered her equipment, ignoring her mother's furious and confused yells and kicked open the black emergency door at the wall. She dashed through it just as the elevator whooshed dangerously past her.

The plan was not going well.

She shut her cellphone,cutting their conversation,and spoke into her headpiece. "Gallagher! Should we abort?"

"No," a cold voice replied "Get another grotto. We're almost done."

"Are Stanson and Jimsky out yet?"

"No."

"I'll meet you in the van."

"What about the controls? How are we ever going to get through security?"

"You'll be fine. I cleared everything.Don't you worry, Gallagher-boy."

A snicker, then their connection was off.

Andie snickered as well. She pulled her long, red hair into a ponytail and crept through the secret passages she had studied in the building plan. She walked slowly; making sure that no noise was made. She held the laptop in front of her the whole time to ensure the gang a safe route through the Centrale Bank of Paris, whose bank vaults they were quietly emptying into a delivery van waiting several blocks away. Orson, the getaway guy, dressed as a lazy courier man, was sitting in the van that very moment, enjoying a box of Dunkin Donuts while keeping an eye on the traffic.

She crept out through the back door, leapt over the brick wall and hurried towards the delivery van. After some furious knocks, Orson admitted her in and asked if everything was all right. "Everything's just great," Andie replied irritably, "My mom found out that I'm not in Athens, and I narrowly escaped the elevator, aka Death himself."

Orson cringed, and then the van door slid open and several bags landed in the storage area. They looked behind. It was Gallagher in his courier uniform, emerging from the Parisian sewage. He stank.

"Hi fellas." He jumped into the van and shut the door. "Stanson and Jimsky will meet us in the warehouse in about a few. Now let's get outta here pronto."

Orson obeyed.

"So, Ocean," Gallagher said as he pulled his cap off and ran a hand through his thinning brown hair, "who were you talking to in the shaft?"

Andie gritted her teeth and shut her laptop. "No one."

"Oh, I know who!" Orson offered. "Her mom!"

Gallagher burst out laughing and slapped her shoulder.

Andie kept silent.

"Oh my gosh, it _is _your mom," Gallagher stared at her in disbelief.

"So?" she snapped back at him.

Her cellphone rang again. "Go on, honey, go answer your mommy!" Orson laughed at her, "and tell her you're looking at the statue of some Greek god. That should crack her up."

Andie laughed gruffly and answered the phone. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Andie," this time it was a husky male voice. "It's me."

Andie groaned and rolled her eyes. This is just great! Just great!

"Andie?"

"Hey Ocean, what did I tell you about the Greek god statue? It works like a charm, honey, anytime, anywhere!" Orson cracked up over his own joke. Gallagher looked at her with a big, expectant grin on his face.

This is not happening.

"What is it, Dad?"


	2. The Eleven Expands

Author's note: Thanks to af881 and darkdestiney for the reviews! Especially to af881 for revising my chapter, so many thanks! To darkdestiney, I don't think so about the offspring: just Danny and Tess.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone save Andie Ocean.

Chapter 2

The hard bump of the plane awoke Rusty Ryan from his deep sleep. "What the –,"

"Please ensure that no personal belongings are left behind. Kopenhagh Airlines will not be responsible for any loss whatsoever. We hope that you have enjoyed the flight and we look forward to seeing you again. Have a nice day." The announcement bounced off the walls of his ears and brought the impending sense of a headache. He stretched in his seat like a cat and yawned loud and wide. He took a moment to gather his bearings and dragged his suitcase from the compartment above him. The sleepy look on his face as he emerged from the gates earned him a few inviting looks from some ladies.

He smiled at them.

Rusty got himself some black coffee in Styrofoam and sipped it slowly on his way to the Rejdna Hotel, where he was supposed to meet up with the gang.

Rusty looked out the window of his taxi and watched the hectic streets of Copenhagen pass him by. He made a mental note to reprimand Danny for his bad taste in hotels. It was taking him forever to get to Rejdna.

His cellphone rang, and he shut his eyes. He knew it was Isabel, knew that his beloved was very keen on knowing if he was free for dinner tonight. Dinner with Isabel was something he could never say no to, but he was not in Amsterdam, he was miles away in Copenhagen…miles away from her.

There was no way he could let her know what he and his "friends" were up to this time.

Nevertheless he plucked it out of the pocket of his black coat and answered it.

"Rusty, where the hell are you?"

Danny.

Rusty couldn't hold back a massive sigh of release. "What's the matter, Rusty? Gave you the scare of your life? I know you're afraid of that Europol agent girlfriend of yours," Danny said, with a hint of restrained laughter in it.

Rusty grinned. "Heck, I'm no different from you, old boy. Does Tess know you're here? Oh boy, you're souped."

He heard a gruff laugh from the other side. "I'll see you later, Rust."

Rusty pocketed his cellphone and felt considerably cheered.

Meanwhile Linus Caldwell had just arrived in the Copenhagen Airport and he was not having a good day.

"What do you mean you lost my baggage?" he yelled at the receptionist.

"We're – we're very sorry, sir. We are trying our best to locate it. Please be – be patient, sir," the sandy-haired receptionist stammered. Linus told himself to cool down, and took a deep breath. After a while, he smiled tightly at the receptionist and said, "Sorry for yelling. It's just that - "

"Oh, it's no problem, sir. We get a lot of angry passengers," she said and gave him a weak smile. Linus cocked an eyebrow.

"Hey Lino!"

Linus turned and saw Basher Tarr, the group explosives expert, walking towards him, one hand in the air. He grinned. "Hey Bashy!"

"Lino, what you doing here? Don't tell me Danny got you in too! I thought he called for an 'exclusive' members-only get-together?" Basher showed off his pearly whites without hesitation. "Check out these babies!"

Linus grinned. Same old Basher. "Well if it's exclusive, you can count on me to be there. Look, I lost my baggage - "

Basher clapped him in the back and laughed. "Okay, whaddaya know I gotta go see my Danny baby before he gets mad at me! See ya Lino!" He blew a kiss. "Love ya, love ya!"

Linus went after him. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Wait for me, won't you?"

Basher waved and disappeared through the airport sliding doors.

Linus stared after him with an open jaw.

"Mr. Caldwell?" A porter came up to him with a trolley full of suitcases. "We found your baggage."

Andie woke up from her nap at the sound of ringing phone. Her eyes still shut, she rolled over to her left and grabbed the receiver.

"'Lo?"

"Miss Ocean, this is your four-o'clock wake-up call."

Andie's eyes flew open and averted to the digital watch on her wrist. Right on time. "Okay, thanks," she slammed the phone down and jumped out of bed. She opened the curtains to allow the afternoon light stream in and headed for the shower.

What was she doing here in Copenhagen? She hadn't seen her father in, say, around a year. The last time was a dinner at the house, which she had to ditch halfway because Gallagher-boy got caught stealing a bike, and she had to bail him out.

"It would be an awkward meeting," she thought as she lost herself in the cool torrent of water.

The shower took five minutes, and Andie was careful not to get her hair wet. She put on a white polo shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Then she pulled her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her coat and bag of gizmo, and left.

In the elevator, she thought of the opening words she would say to her father. "_Hi, dad! Wow, it's been a while!_" She laughed aloud, enjoying her solitude in the elevator.

Danny Ocean looked at his watch impatiently. He crossed his legs and sank deeper into one of the plush leather cushions that littered the lobby of Rejdna Hotel. The old lady sitting opposite him watched him with her small, beady black eyes. He gave her a gracious smile. She grunted, muttered a string of incomprehensible words and looked away. Danny stifled a laugh.

A man with closely cropped hair passed through the main entrance, carrying a metallic suitcase. Danny's gaze rested on the man, who looked around, locked eyes with him, and, with a big smile both of them could not suppress, the new presence walked towards where Danny sat.

Danny finally gave in to a laugh and embraced his old friend. "Rusty!"

Rusty Ryan returned his comrade's affection. "Old Danny boy!"

"Danny boy!"

Danny released Rusty and looked to find good old Basher Tarr jogging towards them. "Bashy!" They hugged each other.

"I swear, were you guys any later, I would have you both crucified," Danny could not resist the joke. "Try me," both Rusty and Basher said simultaneously.

Then the safecracker, the 'private contractor' appeared, with his arms wide open. Danny grinned. "Frankie Cotton!"

Frank Catton's eyes bulged. "Hey, who're you calling 'Cotton', O'Sean?" They embraced. "Good to see you, _Catton_," Danny shook his hand. Now it was Frank's turn to grin wide. "That's more like it, _Ocean_."

"So, is everybody here?" Rusty asked, searching the faces. "Old Lino got stuck at the airport," Basher replied, smiling mischievously. Danny's eyebrows rose. "Courtesy of?"

"Rogue baggage, and a little help from careless staff," came a familiar voice. The group turned. Linus Caldwell grinned at them; a backpack slung over one shoulder, the other hand dragging a suitcase. The men took turns clapping the pickpocket's back. Basher said disbelievingly, "How did you get outta there so fast?"

Linus opened his mouth to retort but Danny intervened, "Glad you could make it out of the mess." Linus pursed his mouth and didn't look too happy, but he let it pass.

The Malloy brothers, Turk and Virgil, appeared next, followed by Reuben Tishkoff, who, for once, was late. "I couldn't help it," he shrugged.

"Yeah right you couldn't. Saw you flirting at a café at the airport," Virgil replied, with a smirk on his face, which made him look comical with his moustache.

Reuben's face grew red. "Flirting with who?" he retorted.

"Some good-looking cakes," Turk grinned smugly. The men laughed and Reuben smiled good-naturedly, "I couldn't help it."

"Yo, yo yo, my men!" It was Yen and Livingston Dell. Close behind them was Saul Bloom.

Danny grinned and watched his gang, his Eleven, chat and embrace each other. The group was complete. He looked at his watch and glanced around. Rusty caught his searching gaze. "Who're you expecting? We're all here."

"And in time for tea too!" Frank commented. "Hey Danny, treat us to tea. We paid for our flights, now you pay for our meals, all right?" Virgil stuffed his fists into his leather jacket and looked at Danny expectantly. "Man, I'm starving," Basher added.

"And I ain't eaten nothin' since breakfast," Yen chirped in, joining in the prospect of a free meal.

"Spare me won't you?" Danny emptied his coat pockets and shrugged. "I'm broke."

"Yeah, that's why you called us in, right? Don't worry, Danny, we're broke too. Thanks to good old Benedict," Linus said wryly.

The group sobered for a while, remembering their payoff to the Vegas casino owner. The same line rang in their minds: 'I want the money back – with interest – or else.'

The elevator doors opened and a familiar figure emerged. Danny looked up, broke into a wide grin and waved. The figure saw him, gave him a relieved smile, and strode casually towards them. The Rat Pack turned in the direction Danny was looking.

Their breath caught in their throats as all eyes rested on the very image of Tess Ocean herself, only . . . Tess Ocean would not be caught in a white polo shirt, faded jeans and black heels. And her hair was too red to be Tess's.

Rusty raised his eyebrows at Danny, who winked back.

The gang leader hugged the young woman, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He turned to face the surprised men.

"Guys, I want you to meet my daughter, Andie."


	3. I'm Game

Author's note: Thanks a bunch for the amazing reviews! It took me quite a while to update because I'm a) suffering from writer's block, b) working on other projects on I know those are no excuses to delay the posting of this chapter, so please forgive me! Also, the dialogue here may not be very smooth and repetition of words may occur at an alarming rate. So sorry for all the glitches! I promise I'll get to the real agenda in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own only Andie Ocean. (Is this necessary for all chapters?)

Chapter 3

"You – have – a – daughter."

Danny's smile was becoming fixed and awkward. He did not know how many minutes had passed since he announced the news. The most disbelieving of them all had to be Rusty. They never kept many secrets from each other.

Except for that Europol agent! An indignant voice screamed in his mind. Danny silently yelled at it to shut up. The whole ex-lover thingy was history, down the drain, out of sight, out of mind! He struggled to remain calm and natural.

"Yes, I'm his daughter. I'm Andie," Danny cast a surprised glance at his daughter, who eyed him back as if to say, "_I can handle this myself!_" That expression reminded him of his equally indignant wife, Tess. He looked away and smothered a smile.

"Andie Ocean?" Linus ventured first, holding out his hand and smiling tightly, "Hi, I'm Linus."

That started a chain reaction, as losing was not in men's nature, and one by one the Rat Pack introduced themselves eagerly to Danny Ocean's daughter. Rusty however drew Danny aside and said heatedly, "Why didn't you tell me that you and Tess have a daughter?"

Danny's eyebrows rose. "Are you angry at me, Rusty?"

Rusty pursed his lips and said cautiously, "Well, sort of."

"Look, Rusty," Danny licked his lips and placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It wasn't easy getting her here, I'm telling you. She's - " Danny cast a look at his daughter, who was done with the men and was looking intently at them. "She's a hacker. The best, I assure you. She learnt it all from Massachusetts."

Rusty grinned wryly. "Then why is she stuck on the wrong side of the law? She should be in a cubicle of some legit company specializing in all those techno crap like, I dunno, programming games for the PC?" He laughed gruffly. "How did she get here, Danny? How?"

Danny narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Because I know my daughter well. I know that if I blow her cover to her mother, she'll never get to pull heists again."

Rusty rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, whatever."

"Something wrong, gentlemen?" Danny jumped in surprise and stared at his daughter, marveling at how good she was at creeping up on people.

"Andie," he greeted her crisply. His daughter ignored him and kept her unblinking eyes locked on Rusty, who was obviously not giving in to the glaring game they were playing. Danny slowly backed away, sensing that he would not want to get involved in one of Andie's catfights. She was good at it. A pro.

"Hey Danny! Where's our tea?" Frank called out and was joined by the others.

Danny laughed and said, "Don't worry pal, I've given some thought to it. Come on, let's check out the café several blocks away from here."

* * *

The walk to the French-styled café that Danny meant was riddled with laughter and manly banter. But Andie was not part of the group, oh no, she was a woman. The odd one out. The outsider, the stranger. She walked behind the group in silence. And her walking partner, her father's best friend, was not helping to lighten her mood.

She glanced at him and opened her mouth to strike a conversation, but shut it instantly. From up ahead, Danny glanced behind occasionally to check on them. After a few glances, it was becoming evident that the two were not going to get along well.

Andie eyed him again and said uncertainly, "So, I'm, uh, Andie."

He glanced at her, then he cast his eyes down again. "Rusty," he muttered.

"Is there something about me that you dislike?" Andie decided to get straight to the point. She hoped her patience would not wear out so easily.

"No."

"Then you're mad because my dad didn't tell you about me?"

"No."

"What's your problem then?" she said loudly, a little too loudly to draw attention from Linus Caldwell. He looked back at them, then lowered his head when Andie Ocean jogged up to the front beside him.

"Andie," he called out as she went past him. She waited for him and smiled. "Hi, Linus, right?"

He smiled tentatively and nodded. "Uh, yeah." His heart was beating like crazy. He had never seen a more beautiful woman than Andie Ocean. Such honeyed brown eyes and such a brilliant smile!

She fell into step beside him and stuffed her hands in her jean pockets. "How did you, uh, come to get involved with us?" Linus ventured first. He was not good around women. When it came to dealing with the opposite sex, his confidence was lower than average. He tried to appear normal and comfortable with her presence, but that proved to be harder than he thought.

How does Rusty Ryan do it?

"I didn't ask for it," Andie said and sighed. "If I had my way, I would be stuck in a cubicle doing what everyone expects me to do: program software." She laughed in a way that carried hints of Danny in it. It was simply charming.

"You sound as if you're forced to be here," he responded. Andie looked at him sharply in the eye. "Well, he is my father. We're . . . helping each other out."

Linus could not help but grin. "From Tess?"

Andie laughed in that Danny way again. "Looks like we're already getting along well."

Andie Ocean had no idea how much it made Linus Caldwell's day.

* * *

"What're we stealing this time?"

Danny gave Virgil Malloy a vicious grin and Andie had to smother a smile. "You have no idea, Virgie. This is the big one, I know it is. It'll be the heist of the decade."

"I thought Benedict was the heist of the decade," Basher said, annoyed.

"Okay, okay, so nothing can compare to that," Danny countered with a sip of his cup of tea. "But, hey, we need the money, right? If we can pull this off with no strings attached, it should be a huge success."

"It's that huge, huh?" Rusty said with a grin on his face. "Don't worry, we're not about to let you down."

"I know, that's why I called you guys back. It's just like the old days: we sneak in, get hold of the loot, and split it up. Everyone's happy, everyone's good."

"So are you saying that this'll be our last ripoff?" Linus said, bringing up the subject they've been dreading. They sighed and fell deathly silent. Linus immediately felt responsible for spoiling the mood.

"Come on, guys, we're Ocean's Eleven!" Frank boomed loudly. "We're the thrill-seekers, the men brave enough to try their luck on the wrong side of the law," Andie coughed and cleared her throat but Frank did not take note of it. "Our adventures ain't gonna stop here. We're survivors! We're the Indiana Jones of our time!"

The Eleven grinned at each other and chorused together, "Aye, aye, sir!"

"So are we game for another big adventure?" Rusty called, his mood somewhat cheered.

The table erupted in laughter and shouts of "Yeah!"

Danny glanced at Andie, who sat beside him. She was quiet, too quiet for his liking. He placed a hand on hers. "Pumpkin, are you okay?"

Andie laughed shortly and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you game?" Rusty turned his intent eyes on her. She looked up and met his testing gaze. "You know once you've sworn allegiance to us, there's no turning back," he added softly.

"Quit it, Rust! You're giving her a hard time!" Basher laughed.

"No, it's – it's okay," she said. This was it. The final threshold. What would her mother think if she had joined her father's band of thieves permanently?

All eyes were on her, and she was fully aware of each one, especially Rusty Ryan, who seemed to enjoy the task of testing her loyalty. Finally she broke away from his gaze and searched for a pair of eyes she could feel comfortable with. Her gaze fell on Linus, and she smiled, "Yeah, I'm game."

How was it?


	4. Of Gabanski and Manners

Author's note: As usual, I hope this chapter will not disappoint. In response to Marille's question: I don't know exactly when Danny married Tess, but I assume that they must have been married pretty long for Danny's gang to know her so well. I know it sounds very absurd, so you must forgive me for my ignorance. It was a very good question though, and I appreciate it very much. Thanks!

Chapter 4

Dinner took place in Danny's deluxe room four rooms away from Andie's. In the room there were two beds, and as a silent apology Danny offered the second bed to Rusty, who was only too glad to take it because it meant that he didn't need to fork out any money of his own. They took their places on the sofa in the sitting area, gathering around a coffee table.

Dinner was mediocre fare: Chinese food in small cardboard boxes.

"Boy, this is sad," Frank poked sadly at his box of chow mien. "We're about to get incredibly rich and we still have to put up with fast food."

Andie did not bother to listen to what everyone else had to say about their respective meals. Her laptop balanced on her lap and her box of Chinese fried rice in her hands, she went to her homepage and checked her inbox. She had three new e-mails: one from Gallagher-boy, one from Mummy dearest, and one from someone named Klaus Hagner.

The last e-mail caught her attention instantly. The box of rice in one hand and the plastic spoon stuffed in the box, she moved her pad mouse and clicked on the heading: WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

As her eyes scanned the e-mail, panic rose up her throat. All appetite was lost, and Andie placed her food on the coffee table and thought of a good reply.

Klaus Hagner was with the Europol, and he said that he knew that she was an impostor. Indeed, she was disguising, as a Europol agent posted abroad in Puerto Rico and lost her password to access the Europol databank. She had kept up the disguise for nearly two weeks, and her unwitting target was a female agent named Betty Kavnik.

The purpose was relatively simple: to clear out all criminal records of her and her gang with Gallagher-boy. Once she had the password, it was all too simple to hack into the database.

Andie managed to obtain Kavnik's e-mail address through a quick run-in with the Europol Witness Protection databank. After the run-in, Europol discovered the intrusion and quickly put up new firewalls, which to this very day Andie had not figured how to hack through.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a nudge from Saul Bloom, who sat beside her. "Hey lady," he whispered fiercely. She looked up and saw her father's intent eyes on hers. Rusty Ryan eyed her suspiciously, and Linus's gaze was just earnest. "Yes?" she ventured, and carefully shut her precious laptop.

"We were just talking about the Gabanski Diamond," Linus informed her helpfully. "Which, apparently, has no interest to you whatsoever," Rusty added quickly.

Danny cast a wild glance at Rusty and opened his mouth to retort but Andie raced him to it. It was aimed at her, so it was hers to fire back.

She looked directly at his eyes and said crisply, "Oh, and I'm pretty sure you guys can do without me. If you don't want me to be here, I'll be happy to leave."

"Hey, hey, cut it out, you two!" Danny was properly fed up by the bitter remarks tossed between the two of the most important people in his life, and it showed on the frowning planes of his face, further accentuated by his greying hair. "This is a discussion, not a boxing ring."

"I will never hurt a girl, believe me," Rusty said, widening his eyes in mock innocence.

Andie folded her arms, rolled her eyes and sank back onto the sofa.

Danny sighed and massaged his temple.

Basher cleared his throat and said, "Back to the subject?"

The men murmured among themselves and kept their eyes on either Danny, Rusty, Andie, or their food boxes.

"Back to the subject," Danny nodded at Basher. "The Gabanski Diamond was crafted by the man himself, Paulo Gabanski. It's not big, really. It's the size of a figurine. What makes it ultimately valuable is the materials used to make it. Paulo Gabanski was an excellent jeweller and craftsman. It's made completely out of pure, hard diamond, and encrusted with precious Swarovski crystals inlaid with gold." Danny's eyes shone at the very thought of it, and the men whistled in awe. It must have been a sight to behold.

Andie, however, had never heard of such an ambitious plan.

"You must be crazy to want to steal it," she said disbelievingly. "It's heavily guarded in the Gallere des Gabanski. We're talking about lasers, high-tech security, and guards!" She was appalled to see the calm, almost smiling look on her father's face. "It's over before it's even begun," she added slowly.

Danny shook his head. "You're wrong, I'm telling you. Remember the whole Benedict thingy?" He looked around at his men with a grin. "It was invulnerable! He said so himself. But we made it, didn't we?"

"Yeah!" The Malloy brothers shouted with Frank and Basher. Even Reuben Tishkoff was hyped. "That's the spirit!" he said loudly. Rusty only managed to grin.

Andie had to smile at Danny's optimism. But it wasn't going to work. Andie knew the odds stacked against them. She had as much experience as her father did.

"Okay, even if we're going to do it," she said, trying to be as matter-of-factly as possible, "How are you going to get in there?"

Danny grinned even wider, as if he was drunk, and said, pointing his finger playfully at her, "That's where you come in, pumpkin."

"What?" she almost shouted.

"Oh boy, don't you sound like Tess," Rusty remarked wryly, smiling slyly.

The men laughed. "You said so yourself, all high-tech security," Danny said, feeling ticklish. "That means there'll be plenty of computers for you to mess around with. That's your specialty, isn't it? That's your playground. You snoop into the database and clear all the laser, the techie stuff, we do the rest of the work."

"I'm sure it's easier than what we have to do," Linus said encouragingly. The men nodded along with him, except for Rusty. He sipped his cold beer and stared at the ceiling.

"You'll do it, won't you, pumpkin?"

Andie sighed and shrugged. "Do I look like I have another choice?"

* * *

Tomorrow morning was set for a drive to the Gallere des Gabanski just outside of Copenhagen. After some idle talk accompanied by cold beer, which Andie politely refused, Danny dismissed them back to their rooms.

Andie entered hers, feeling somewhat resigned and reluctant. She remembered her promise to her mother before she went to Massachusetts. She had promised that she would use her skills for a good cause. That time, anything was possible.

That promise should have been left unsaid.

Now look what was happening to her: she and her very own gang, headed by Gallagher-boy, had risen to be among the most prolific bandits that ever graced the FBI's Most Wanted list. Three narrow escapes and three effortless hacks into the FBI database had made Andie and the gang think three times before stealing something. Now that Europol had their records, Andie knew better than to ruffle the feathers of any European cop until she found a backdoor into the Europol database.

She hung her coat on the hangers in the wardrobe and unfastened the buttons of her jeans and let it drop onto the floor, revealing a pair of shorts that ended well above her knees. She stepped out of the jeans and threw it onto a chair. Andie plopped onto the bed and switched the television on.

Channel-surfing was not Andie's idea of having fun at all, but she had no choice since all the TV shows were in Danish, and she understood not a single syllable of it. God help her, she was bored to tears.

Then she stood and went to the desk for her laptop. Surfing the Internet was considerably more promising.

The desk, however, had no laptop on it. Andie frowned. "Where could it be?" she asked herself quietly. She was pretty sure she had brought it back – oh no. She slapped her forehead and ran to the wardrobe for her jeans. She left it at dear old dad's. On the coffee table in the sitting area.

Just great.

She would make a brief visit and ignore the jibes her father was likely to give, since she rarely forgot things, and make a quick exit. Yes, she would.

She was about to grab hold of her jeans when a knock came at her door. Was it dad with her laptop? She slammed the wardrobe shut and hurried to the door. It had better be him.

"Yeah?"

"Andie, it's Dad."

She opened the door without hesitation and let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her trustworthy laptop in his hands. Danny smiled at her. "I knew it was yours, pumpkin."

Andie pecked him on the cheek and took the gadget from him. "Thanks."

"Actually, Rusty found it on the table and stopped me from digging into your private files," Danny said, grinning apologetically. Andie eyed him suspiciously and said, "Really."

"Really, really. May I come in?"

"Sure."

Andie stepped back and closed the door behind him. At the very mention of Rusty Ryan, she knew that her father was on a peacemaking mission. "Dad," she said, watching him take a seat on her bed and laugh at the television screen, "I know you're trying to patch things up."

"Patch up what? Oh, between you and Rusty?" Danny laughed again, patting the space beside him for her to sit. She narrowed her eyes. He stopped laughing as realization hit him. "Oh."

She sighed and sat beside her father, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know, we're old enough to work things out ourselves. I really appreciate what you're doing but it's really not necessary."

Danny placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and looked into her eyes tenderly. There was so much of Tess in her: the same indignant nature, the same tenderness. How he loved them both.

"Well, do you know what the main ingredient in our past successes was? Teamwork. Everyone co-operated, everyone got along fine. We looked out for each other and caught whomever that fell. You and Rusty, you guys are the ones I need the most. You're smart, efficient, and talented. I don't want you guys at each other's throats, even when we're not working. Can you be nice to him, Andie, for me?"

She sighed heavily and nodded reluctantly. "Okay, but only if he's nice to me in return."

Danny laughed and ruffled her hair. "Sure thing."

* * *

"What is she, a six-year-old?"

Danny sighed. "What's a few weeks?"

"She's pushy," Rusty's eyes did not leave the television set. Danny sat beside him on the couch, a glass of white wine in one hand. "It'll mean the world to me, Rust." He sipped it and looked at his best friend intently.

Rusty turned and met his gaze. "She's that important, huh?"

"She's my daughter!" Danny exploded. "If everyone else can get along with her, why can't you? You're the one who's so great with women. What's the matter? Now's the perfect time to win a lady's heart, and for once I want you to do so!"

Rusty let out a short, hysterical laugh which made the hairs on Danny's back stand. "It's not funny, Mr. Ryan," Danny said sarcastically.

"Yeah, right, whatever, Danny," Rusty grinned mischievously. "Whatever."

Danny had never hated that Chesire cat grin of his so much before.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Thanks, again, for the marvelous reviews! I'm sorry for not being able to update sooner. School has begun (unfortunately) and I've got lots of stuff to do. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!

Disclaimer: I own only Andie Ocean and Gallagher-boy.

Chapter 5 

The Gallere des Gabanski was a fine medley of European architecture: modern yet authentic. The neat, two-story building sat at the crown of a small hill just outside Copenhagen. Opposite the Gallere was a wide square. A statue of a figure on horseback bathed in a large fountain was situated in the middle of the square. Rows of quaint shops reminiscent of Ye Olde England and sidewalk cafés lined the sides. The scene reminded Andie of the large Piazzas in Rome.

The pigeons and tourists frequenting the square complemented the picture.

Basher was at the wheel of the SUV, driving slowly behind another slow-moving car, inspecting the postcard-perfectness of the Gabanski Square. Danny sat beside him, studying the district map he obtained from a tourist help center.

Andie was stuck at the rear with Rusty Ryan. They looked out the windows and refused to acknowledge each other. Linus sat in the middle, uneasy and very aware of the tense situation hanging in the air between the two.

Linus looked from Andie to Rusty, then he leaned forward and asked Danny, "Can we get down for a walk?"

"Not yet," Danny murmured, his thumb moving across the map. Linus shifted and argued weakly, "It's very tense back here." Danny looked at him questioningly. "Very tense," Linus emphasized.

"I heard that," Rusty called out. Andie remained silent.

Danny sighed and set the map on his lap. "Can the two of you please stop behaving like – two-year-olds?"

"Are we?" Andie countered.

"Yes."

"We're sorry," Rusty chipped in. Linus threw his hands up and fell back against the seat. He wasn't the only one exasperated. Danny folded the map and pointed to a parking space near a sidewalk by the Gallere. "Basher, we're getting down here," he instructed. Then he looked back at his daughter and his best friend, and said, "Children, we're going for a walk."

* * *

This time, Danny did not try to pair the two of them together. He had had enough of their silly antics. Why, why can't they just get along? Was it because of their astrological differences? Personality clashes? Thinking about it only encouraged the presence of irritation.

All the better for Andie.

She walked with Linus, who, she discovered, was not a conversation man. Ahead of her, her father, Basher and Mr. Smartypants-Ryan were talking animatedly. From the restrained look on Linus's face, it was clear that he was wishing he could join them.

The problem was, she wasn't a conversation person either. But still, a conversation had to be struck. Silence was more awkward.

Right?

"So Linus," she ventured a little nervously. He turned to look at her as if caught by surprise, and the look instantly made her feel guilty for actually addressing him.

Suddenly she felt shy, and she cast her head down to hide her furious blush. "What is it, Andie?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing important."

Linus smiled and shrugged, "It's okay. You can talk to me about whatever that's on your mind. Whatever that's bothering you, I mean."

Andie looked up and met his gentle eyes. She broke into a grin. "Well, it's just that … I don't know why I can't seem to … well, fit in, I guess." She smiled at him. "It's nothing major," she quickly added.

"Why? Are we making you feel uneasy?"

"No," she quickly replied. "It's not that."

Linus knew what she meant. "It's about Rusty, isn't it?"

Andie drew a sharp breath and looked away. Rusty glanced behind at Linus and asked, "You called?"

Linus shook his head. "No."

Rusty frowned and became immersed in his discussion with Danny and Basher again.

Linus looked at Andie again. "What's the matter? He's a nice guy."

"Not with me," she mumbled.

"You can't say you're feeling left out," Linus laughed at the idea. Andie stared at him and that shut him up. "Sorry. It just doesn't seem right. Andie, you fit in perfectly with us. We're all your friends and we're all your teammates."

Andie sighed and said, "It's easy for you to say."

"I sincerely meant it," he said earnestly. "You're welcome here, and Danny and I will see to it that you don't feel left out."

Andie looked at him intently, then broke into a slow smile. "Thanks, Linus."

Linus's heart skipped a beat, and he said a little shakily, "No problem."

* * *

The Gabanski Diamond was the most beautiful thing Andie had ever seen. It sat on a velvet throne, encased by glass, and guarded by personal bodyguards. Andie could not take her eyes of the jewel-encrusted diamond. Was this worth the risk? Her eyes darted to the security guards standing rigidly on both sides of the showcase.

The Europol threat entered her mind again, and she glanced at Danny and Basher, who were pretending to be interested in a painting with only a red square in the middle of the canvas. Should she tell them about Europol? Should she warn them about the danger that now rested on her shoulders with the e-mail?

Her eyes rested once again on the Gabanski Diamond. This time, her gaze was plagued by guilt. Her mind drowned in a sea of dilemma. She had kept too many secrets. Too many for her own liking.

"It's that beautiful, huh?"

Andie jerked back into reality and turned her head in the direction of the intruder of her thoughts. Rusty Ryan grinned at her smugly. "A penny for your thoughts, Miss Ocean."

"I'm not going to accept even a thousand," she replied nonchalantly.

"Your loss then."

"You're the one on the losing side, Mr. Ryan," she smiled graciously at him, fluttering her eyelashes, "My thoughts are not going to mean anything to you, I'm afraid."

"I'm willing to take the risk," he whispered in her ear.

Andie grinned, enjoying the playful banter. She laid a finger on his shoulder and whispered back in his ear, "You're not going to like the outcome, trust me."

Rusty's hands rested on her waist and he drew her close to him. "I don't know why, but I think I will like what you have to offer, Miss Ocean," his fingers played with the buttons on her blouse, "underneath your clothes."

Andie laughed and pushed him gently away. "My dad's not going to like what you're trying to imply, Mr. Ryan."

"But you will," he replied mischievously.

Andie rolled her eyes and drifted away from the display. She caught an information counter with several brochures arranged on it. She headed for the counter and picked up a brochure generous with information about the Gallere.

And in the centrespread was a detailed and complete map of the Gallere itself.

"Perfect," she whispered.

* * *

"Who's the culprit?"

He threw a beige file onto the table and slid it across the table towards her. "Our experts got the lowdown on the impostor."

She eyed her superior as she opened the file and scanned the information inside. "Andromeda Theresa Danielle Ocean," she read aloud.

The Europol superintendent grinned. "Does 'Ocean' sound familiar?"

"You can't say she's related to Danny Ocean?" she asked disbelievingly.

"She's his daughter. And with all the lies she told Agent Kavnik, she's got herself an arrest warrant."

She turned the page, expecting more, but was disappointed to find that the 'lowdown' was only one page long. She held the paper up with two fingers and looked at her superior questioningly, "This is all you've got?"

He frowned and said, "This is one likely hacker, Agent Lahiri. If she was smart enough to obtain Kavnik's address, imagine what she'd be able to do if she got the password from her." He walked across the table and handed an envelope to her.

She took it and tore it open. A booklet of tickets fell onto her lap. "What's this all about?" she looked at him ridiculously. "I'm on leave, remember?"

"Well now you're not," he said firmly. "We tracked Andromeda Ocean to Copenhagen, Denmark, and that's where you're heading." Seeing the incredulous look on her face, he added hastily, "Treat it as a vacation."

She sighed and kept the ticket in her tote. "Fine. I'm not promising I'll be able to find her but - "

"You'd better, Agent Lahiri," he said fiercely, glaring at her.

Isabel Lahiri sighed again and headed for the door, "Yes, yes, whatever."

Rusty had been ignoring her phone calls for a long time, anyway. They both probably need a break.

And this would be hers.


	6. ArgumentsFinding Miss Ocean

Author's note: Hey hey hey! It's me again. I'm really sorry for not being able to update any sooner because my Internet connection was down over the months. Once again I hope that this chapter will not suck. Thanks! Love, cascade-of-black-ink.

Disclaimer: I own only Andie Ocean and Gallagher-boy.

Chapter 6 

"Do you want the security schedule as well? It'd be useful."

When she got no reply, she turned her head to her left.

He had already fallen hopelessly asleep. Andie knew her father wouldn't last an afternoon with the computer. He preferred the old-fashioned sneak-and-grab-the-loot way.

She poked his shoulder. "Dad?"

Danny shifted and mumbled something along the lines of "Not now, honey." A sleepy smile decorated his face, and it made Andie smile as well. He looked childish and innocent, not like his profession.

Andie stretched, yawned and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted as well. She placed the laptop on the coffee table and headed for the mini refrigerator to get a drink. As she poked around for something other than cold beer, the smell of lavender soap caught her attention.

"What don't you like about beer?" A half-dressed Rusty Ryan nonchalantly reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a can of beer, his hand brushing against her cheek. She jerked her head away and eyed him irritably. Rusty sipped his beer and narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

"You smell of lavender."

"So?"

"Men don't usually smell of lavender. It's a woman's scent."

"The hotel didn't give me any choice." He shrugged, took a long swig from the can and offered it to her. "Want some?"

Andie gagged and shut the refrigerator. "No thank you, please."

"Why? You don't think I taste good?"

She plopped back onto the sofa beside her sleeping father and drew her laptop back onto her lap. "Honestly, I don't care."

"But you cared about the way I smell," he rested his elbows on the sofa and grinned at her. She felt his breath on her neck and suddenly felt leaden. Her fingers rested on her precious notebook but didn't move. She forgot what she had in mind.

"Andie?" He edged closer to her and noticed her uneasiness. Then he whispered into her ear, "Am I unnerving you?"

Andie gathered her wits and answered firmly, "No."

Rusty laughed and touched her face. "Then look at me."

"Why should I?"

"To prove that you're not afraid of me."

"I don't have anything to prove."

"Really?"

She whipped her head around and glared at him. "Really."

He laughed and touched her cheek lightly with a finger. "Well, I'm not buying."

Andie plastered a sweetly fake smile on her face and batted her eyelids, "You don't have to."

The clock ticked the afternoon away. When Andie awoke on the couch, her father was still dozing.

And her laptop gone from her lap.

Putting a hand to her mouth, she muffled a cry of panic. She jumped off the couch and roamed the sitting room, looking under pillows and under the sofa. She went to the kitchen mini-bar and even pillaged the refrigerator.

Where is it?

In a sudden burst of realization she strode furiously towards Rusty's room and knocked. "Open up, Mr. Ryan!"

No answer. She launched into a series of hard bangs. "Rusty Ryan, I command you to - "

The door opened and Rusty emerged, looking equally angry. "What's Klaus Hagner about, Miss Ocean? And who's Betty Kavnik? An Europol pal of yours?"

Her anger fused with panic. "No one," she quickly replied. Rusty's face hardened. "I want you to tell me the truth. No lies!" he said coldly. She hesitated, her mind frantically groping for a good answer.

"Well?" he shouted, a tad too loud.

"Rusty? Andie?" Danny had woken up. He looked at them incredulously. "What's going on?"

Before Rusty could answer, Andie shoved him inside and said to her father, "Just – just an argument. Don't worry about us!" She disappeared behind the door and shut it immediately, locking it behind her.

Now it was Danny's turned to pound on the door. "Hey, hey, don't you dare – don't you dare lay a finger on my daughter, Rusty!"

Rusty ignored him. "Be honest, Miss Ocean! Why are you snooping on us?"

"I'm not snooping on you! I'm not even with Europol!" Andie replied, looking at him with defiance.

"Just – admit –it!" Rusty shouted.

"I'm saying I'm not and that's the truth!" she spied her precious notebook on his bed and a cold realization hit her.

From the look on his face, she knew that he had known everything.

He saw her eyes on the notebook, and he looked away. She snatched it and was ready to kill him. "Who on earth gave you the damn permission to sneak into my laptop?"

"I …"

"Ha! Now you are the one who's at a loss for words!"

"I'm just doing what's best for Danny!"

"I'm not an impostor! I'm his daughter, for God's sake! Why would I betray my own father?" she yelled back.

"Because your mother asked you to?"

"God, you're impossible!"

"So are you!"

Danny continued hitting the door. "What the hell's going on in there?"

"Go away!" Andie and Rusty shouted together.

Andie cast Rusty an angry look, and he glared at her too, but a tinge of disappointment showed.

Finally he opened the door and said, "Just get the heck out of my room."

"Certainly," she replied colder than she meant to, and shouldered her father roughly on her way out, feeling, strangely, more hurt than furious.

Isabel tapped her fingers impatiently on the metal desk and eyed the bespectacled man behind it.

"What was the name of the person again?" Georgis Orwell looked away from the computer screen and stared at her blankly.

"Woman," Isabel corrected. "Andromeda Ocean."

"Very unusual."

Isabel sighed and fanned herself with a travel brochure. It was sweltering hot in the room. She stared at the radiator and wished she could turn it down. But Georgis Orwell did not seem to have a problem with it.

She was in the General Director of Copenhagen Airport's office. If she had guessed right, she would have been able to obtain enough information to find out Andromeda Ocean's credit card number and, hopefully, the hotel where she was currently staying in. If only he would hurry up.

Isabel shut her eyes and allowed herself a few minutes of shuteye. Her head nodded to the fuzzy traces of classical music playing on Orwell's ancient radio and sank into the heat.

In her mind she saw Rusty, laughing and surprising her with a bouquet of yellow roses. Then the vision shifted and they were in a field of yellow roses. She was wearing a yellow dress and he had a grey suit on. The thorns of the roses tore against her dress as they ran together under a pale blue sky. They ran until they fell, exhausted, and he kissed her, laughing as he did.

As surreal as it seemed, Isabel couldn't help but smile in her sleep.

The scene changed, and this time she was standing on a balcony of a squat building overlooking a narrow canal. Large, fancy boats floated on the canal below the balcony, and in each boat were two lovers, disguised in fancy masks and Elizabethan costumes. They kissed, then smiled and waved at her. She smiled and waved back.

Then she saw a gondola, where she saw Rusty in it, dressed in the same grey suit. He was smiling and laughing, but not at her.

Beside him was a girl, dressed in a sharp, black suit. Her hair was black, and it was pulled back together in a ponytail. Isabel couldn't see her face, but the feeling of shock and rejection cut through her heart as sharp as razor. She leaned over the balcony and called out to him, waving furiously.

"Robert! Robert!"

He didn't hear her.

She leaned too far, and when she realized it, she was falling. The gondola and canal disappeared and she fell through empty space, screaming her throat.

"Ah! I have found her, Miss Lahiri," Orwell said nonchalantly, but to Isabel it was a rude reality check. Isabel jolted awake. When she saw Georgis Orwell's unsmiling face, her heartbeat returned to normal. She was back in familiar surroundings. Thank God for that.

What a horrible dream, she thought hazily.

Isabel mumbled incoherently as she went around the desk and studied what the computer screen had about Andromeda Ocean.

Her eyes skipped to the number of her credit card. She took it down in her notebook and asked permission to use Orwell's ancient Netscape Explorer.

As she waited for the Europol homepage to load, she took note of all the ancient things in his office. Her eyes traveled to the shabby couch, where it was his turn to fall asleep. She smiled. A few clicks brought her the information she needed.

Andromeda Ocean was currently lodged at Rejdna Hotel, downtown Copenhagen.


	7. Now We Have A Plan

Chapter 7

"So anybody got a plans?"

Nine pairs of eyes rested on Yen. He smiled sheepishly, showing all of his teeth.

"Nope," Basher ran a hand through his hair, "Glad you picked up some English anyway." Reuben emptied his glass of milk, burped and plodded to the refrigerator for more. The men laughed, then fell quiet.

Danny looked at Frank, who looked at Linus, who stared at Basher, who turned to Virgil, who passed the look to Turk, who looked pointedly at Dell, who gazed at Reuben, who looked at Yen, who grinned at Saul, and they all, with a unique and mutual understanding, looked at Rusty and Andie Ocean.

Who, of course, had their heads bowed down, one pair of eyes studying an empty glass of orange juice, and the other concentrated on a fusion of red, blue and green lines, oblivious to the men.

The men grinned at each other knowingly.

Danny leaned forward from his seat, to his left and snapped his fingers in front of his daughter's nose. "Andie."

She looked up dazedly. "What?"

"Found anything yet?" Virgil.

A small smile formed on her lips. "Maybe."

"Let's hear it." Danny leaned back against the couch. The men followed suit.

Andie turned the laptop around. "The red lines are the ventilation, blue's for sewage and green's for electric. Just above the Diamond is the ventilation shaft. The ventilation's connected to the sewage, so if we can find a way into the sewage …"

"Ugh! That's gonna stink!" Virgil scrunched his nose in mock disgust.

The men laughed until Danny gave them an un-Danny like stern look. Then he turned to Andie and smiled, "I thought so."

"Then what happens after we get into the sewage?" Frank.

"Diamond's kept in a huge chamber after opening hours, guarded by random laser movements and ultraviolet cameras and it's got some three or five men keeping close eyes on it," Rusty spoke suddenly, still watching his glass.

Danny arched an eyebrow at his daughter.

She sighed and nodded. "He's right. So the only way to get into the chamber's from above … and below."

"You mean the drain?" Basher said incredulously.

Andie smiled, but didn't reply.

"Ventilation shafts layer each floor. We close in from below or from above."

"I suggest we take the downwards route from the top," Rusty cleared his throat and looked at Danny. "We've got men to spare."

Danny thought as he nodded. "And we have to take care of the security room, too. Blanking the cameras out is too risky."

"Sleeping pill," Reuben smiled, his eyes half-closed in drowsiness. "Pill in beer. Great diversion."

Danny: "I like that. It should buy us enough time, but it shouldn't be too long. Fifteen minutes perhaps?"

"I should be able to pull it off," Linus volunteered. Danny nodded. "Okay. What about the lasers? Andie?'

"It'll go off automatically at seven in the morning, just before the guards carry it out. Alternatively, there's a switch and a ten-numeric password."

Danny: "Where's it situated?"

"On the door."

They groaned simultaneously.

"Don't worry, I'll try to find a way to alter the automatic function," Andie began typing furiously. "You'd better," Rusty chimed. Danny gave him a hard look, and he grinned weakly back.

"But the lasers are touching the Diamond, right?" Saul finally spoke up. "I'm sure the laser's able to detect if the Diamond suddenly disappears."

"Make a replica," Danny replied.

The men murmured in agreement. The Malloy brothers raised their hands, "We'll take care of that."

Danny nodded again. "Good. And make sure you finish it in two days tops."

They saluted him. "No problem, Cap'n."

Danny grinned. A plan was taking shape. He was beginning to see a ray of hope.

"Let's say Miss Ocean gets to clear the laser for ten minutes or fifteen," Basher said thoughtfully, "How are we gonna grab the Diamond from above?"

Rusty answered as he grinned, "Mission Impossible."

The men hooted and hollered. Even Andie burst into laughter. "I see you're giggling," Rusty murmured into her ear. She gave him a smile. "I guess I am, assuming you're going to be the guinea pig?"

His grin became wider and more earnest. "Does that mean you'll forgive me?"

"Who knows?" she shrugged and winked before turning back to her laptop screen.

When the laughter subsided, Danny said, "Okay, but Rusty, I think Yen's better suited for the job since he's the tiniest here. You and I will help Yen. Yen, your job is to grab the Diamond and replace it with the replica in the chamber; Linus, Reuben and Dell, the security room is all yours; Malloys: replica; Frank and Basher will man the cable that's going to help us move in and out of the ventilation and sewage; and Andie'll be our getaway driver. That way you can still keep tabs on the laser movements and tell us when to pull out."

"Gotcha, Dad."

"Hey, then what about us?" The Malloy brothers whined.

Danny frowned. "You've got the replica to make."

"What about _during_ the stealing?" Virgil folded his arms and pouted.

Danny sighed. "Okay. Turk, you can help Linus, Reuben and Dell. Virgil, you team up with Basher and Frank. That okay?"

The Malloys looked at each other, sniffed and nodded.

"What about me? Come on, you can't leave the old man out just because he's old," Saul folded his arms and looked at Danny questioningly.

Danny stared at Saul questioningly back. "What do you want to do?"

Saul shrugged. "You know, help."

"Well, you're already helping by promising to sponsor us."

"Of course I am going to sponsor you, silly. What am I going to do when you're pulling off the job?"

"Why don't you come with us into the sewer?" Frank grinned at Saul. "Basher and I can use another pair of hands."

"Yeah, Saul, that is, if you're not scared of getting wet and stinky."

Saul hesitated, then he looked back at Danny.

Danny shrugged.

"Hey Saul," Rusty grinned at him, "go for it, old fella. It's an experience of a lifetime."

Saul bit his lip, then nodded. "Fine. The sewer'll do."

The men burst into applause and Basher and Frank shook Saul's hand, grinning from ear to ear.

"All right, does everyone know what he or she - " Danny winked at Andie, "- has to do?"

"Yeah!"

Danny grinned. "Now this is more like it."

By the afternoon of the next day, Danny's double-room suite had become a huge workplace. The sofas were pushed to the walls and a huge makeshift table dominated the room. Pieces of plaster and shreds of plastic littered the floor.

At one corner, Turk and Virgil worked on a replica of the Gabanski Diamond according to the specifications Andie hacked from the Gallere website. Occupying a whole side of the table were Yen and Frank, testing the cable they bought that morning with Rusty, Basher and Danny. Andie sat at a corner trying to figure out a way to stop the laser movements. The only ones missing from the room were Linus, Dell and Reuben, who paid another visit to the Gallere and were to go to the drug store after that. Saul was the only one not working. He slept on a sofa by the wall, snoring with his mouth hanging open.

Virgil nudged Turk and whispered something in his ear. The brothers laughed. Danny gave them a smack on their heads. "Don't laugh at our kind benefactor."

"What? He ain't even looking?"

"I won't tolerate any of your practical jokes anymore. I really won't."

"Aww, boss …"

"Get back to work."

Andie grinned, and her eyes met with Rusty's. He smiled at her. She smiled back.

Andie was beginning to see a glimmer of hope for the plan. Maybe it would work out. Maybe Europol had given up on her. Maybe she was too paranoid. She laughed silently, to herself.


	8. She's Here

Chapter 8

"Wanna join me for dinner?"

Andie looked up from her laptop screen to find her father staring at her questioningly. She glanced at her screen once more and yawned, suddenly feeling tired. "What do you have in mind?"

Danny shrugged. "Probably something Danish."

She could use some food and some fresh air. "Sure. Just let me get my coat."

Dinner was at a modest Danish restaurant that also, for some strange reason, also served Chinese and Indian food. Father and daughter ate silently, suddenly there was nothing important to discuss. Not even the subject of the heist that they were going to pull off made it to their minds.

Andie chewed on her grilled chicken slowly as she watched her father wolf down on an odd-looking dish. Her lips itched to say something, anything, but couldn't bring herself to say something.

Suddenly, Danny looked up and noticed her edginess. "Are you okay, Andie? The food making you sick?"

Jolted, she shook her head a little too quickly. "No, Dad. The food's just fine." And to prove it, she ferociously ripped apart a huge chunk of grilled chicken and shoved it into her mouth. Danny laughed at her antics. 'Oh come on, Andie. I'm your father. I've known you long enough to know that you're not exactly at peace of mind."

Now it was Andie's turn to laugh. "How can I be at peace of mind when I know that I'm helping to rob the Gabanski Diamond?"

"Gabanski's dead. He wouldn't mind anyway."

"I hope so."

She found her tongue tied again, and her appetite cut off, so she set her fork and knife down and concentrated on finishing her glass of white wine. Danny noticed it, but the Andie sitting in front of him right then was not his little girl anymore. He remembered the indignant eight-year-old Andie, who refused to give up playtime even when dinner was already served on the table and he threatened to spank her if she didn't sit and eat. He smiled at the memory of it. When Andie was eight, he didn't do ripoffs for a living. He ran a pretty successful cigar business, and he lived on the right side of the law.

"Mom would throw a fit if she knew what we're up to now," Andie commented wryly, shaking him out of his reminiscing.

"What? Oh yeah," he laughed, poking again at his food, "She'd throw a terrible hissy, that's for sure."

Andie grinned. 'And exactly who's idea is this, by the way?"

"Okay, okay, so I'm just looking for some illicit thrill. So sue me."

She laughed. "If we ever end up in jail, I really will."

Danny put a mock shocked look on his face. "What, my own daughter? Sue me in court? You youngsters are getting more extreme by the day."

"Aww, don't worry about it, Dad. By the time I get out of jail, I would have lost the urge."

Danny laughed. "I hope so."

Andie suddenly remembered the Europol threat. Hopefully, just hopefully, they weren't in on her completely yet.

By the time the taxi driver pulled up at the curb of Rejdna Hotel, Isabel was dead beat. Forget dinner, she would rather hit the pillow first. She got out of the taxi and druggedly shoved some bills onto the driver's outstretched hand. Then she waited and folded her arms, giving the sleazy man a grudging look. "Are you not going to take my luggage out for me?"

The driver shrugged and bent down to pull a small lever underneath the driver seat. The boot lid opened, and he jerked his finger irritably at it. "Yourself."

Outraged, but hopelessly helpless, Isabel kept her curses to herself and plodded all the way to back of the taxi and dragged her suitcase out, slamming the boot lid shut with ferocious vengeance.

Instantly, the taxi sped off.

Isabel sighed tiredly and made her way slowly towards the hotel entrance. When she neared the glass doors, she thought she saw a recognizable Chinese face moving with a group of laughing men out from the elevators. She slowed down, trying to put a name to the face as he approached the front doors, towards her. Then suddenly, he noticed her, and his face contorted with panic. Before she could stop him, he had already turned and fled towards the elevators.

Alarmed and now fully awake, Isabel shoved with all her might at the glass doors and ran as fast as she could while trying to lug her suitcase with her. But the small figure of the Chinese man was more agile and frustatingly too quick for her to keep track of. By the time she had dragged her suitcase up a wide two-steps that separated the lobby from the reception area, he was already in an elevator and the doors slid shut.

But all hope was, hopefully, not lost. Isabel dashed anyway towards the elevator, trying to at least get the floor he got off at, or, even better, stop the elevator.

She thumbed the UP button ferociously but the elevator ignored the command to stop. Frustrated, she watched the number on the electronic dial but realized that it would not matter anyway, since he wasn't the only one in the elevator.

The next elevator ting-ed and the doors slid open. She watched the stream of people leaving the elevator box anyway just in case the Chinese man happened to be in it. A man was about to leave the elevator as well, but his eyes locked with hers, and he shrank back into the elevator, furiously pressing the CLOSE button. Isabel could not comprehend his face, he was too far away, but, just as the doors slid close, she realized that the face was Rusty's.

Oh shit.

Rusty breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator doors closed, blocking her from view. Oh God, what the hell was she doing here, in Rejdna? What had she come here for? Surely she hadn't tracked him down. Surely she felt the need to give him a little space just as she had needed the space when she went on assignments for Europol. Surely . . . surely she hadn't come for Andromeda Ocean?

That's it. The e-mail from Europol. Andie's cover was blown. Big time. He had to call Danny. They had to get the hell out of Rejdna. Fast.

He fished out his cellphone and dialed Danny's number, silently chanting in his head so that he would pick it up.

"H'lo?"

"Danny! Bad news."

"What's happened?"

"She's here."

Silence. Then, "Tess? Tess is here?"

Rusty sighed exasperatedly. "No, it's not Tess. If it were Tess, I would have liked not to call you."

"You prick. Which she?"

"Isabel," he hissed.

Silence again, but a heavier one. "Oh shit."

"Oh yeah."

"She found out about us?"

Rusty hesitated. Should he tell him about Andie's run-in with Europol? To tell or not to tell?

"Urm, I guess so, yeah." Neat lie, Ryan. But he didn't have a choice. He couldn't risk giving Andie away.

"Oh shit," Danny said again. This time both men fell silent.

"So what're we going to do, Danny?"

The few seconds of silence was almost unbearable. And in that few seconds, Isabel might have already recognized more members from the team.

"Okay, tell you what, Rust. Get everybody out. Now."

"To where?"

"I dunno, somewhere, anywhere! You're the smartass here! I'm in a restaurant with Andie. We should be able to make a clean escape."

"Oh? Were you having you a nice meal?"

"Yeah, you should have come with us."

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Rusty jerked up in fear, expecting to see Isabel, but thank goodness, he saw Turk and Virgil instead.

"Oh, Rusty, we were just - "

"No time to talk, come on in!" Rusty urged them in. Puzzled, they stepped in anyway, and Rusty pressed the CLOSE button. As the elevator moved upwards, he resumed his conversation with Danny.

"What's going on?"

"I've got Turk and Virgil with me."

He heard Danny sigh with relief. "Good. That's great."

"So where are we going to meet up?" He swore he could feel Danny's heart beat as furiously as his.

"Hey, Rusty, what's going on?" Turk asked, sensing the panic in the situation. Rusty held a hand up, a signal to be silent.

"I'm not sure. Okay, here's what you do. You scatter, okay, everyone scatter. You gather as many of us as possible and check out."

"What about our stuff? The model? The harness? The ropes? Andie's laptop?"

"Oh shit." Danny sounded as flabbergasted as he was. This was it. This was the end.

Rusty drew a deep breath and said as calmly as he could. "Danny, you get Andie out first. Turk, Virgil and I will handle this."

"What? Rusty, why?"

"Trust me on this, okay, buddy? I'll get us out of this mess. I'll call you."

Danny was silent. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me. Just get us another safe place."

"Okay. I'll call you?"

"I'll call you. See ya."

"Good luck."

"I'll take care."

Rusty tucked his phone back in his coat and turned around to face the Malloy brothers.

"So, mind telling us what's going on?" Virgil asked tentatively.

Rusty drew a deep breath again. "Isabel Lahiri is here. And we've got to work to do."


	9. Not so Fast

Chapter 9

Andie saw the worry in Danny's eyes and the anxiety in his movements as he shut the lid of his cellphone and tucked it into his coat pocket. He signaled for the waiter to come with the bill.

"Dad? What happened?"

He looked around nervously before answering her, "An Europol agent arrived in Rejdnaa moment ago."

Europol?

Oh no.

She was as good as dead.

She took another sip of wine from her glass, which was probably her last anyway so she gulped it all down. How had Europol managed to track her down all the way to Rejdna? And why, why, must they show up tonight? She didn't suppose that her father had already known about her disastrous run-in with the Europol superiors, since he did not show any sign that he had already known about it. If she knew her father, he would be giving her his trademark how-could-you-do-that look, and she would be squirming like a squid.

"So, what are we going to do, Dad?"

He shrugged, looking helpless for the first time ever since he launched the idea of stealing the Gabanski Diamond. "Rusty saw her, the agent I mean, and he told me to get you out first. Which reminds me," he sat up straight and focused his gaze on her, "is there something going on between you two that I don't know of?"

Her mouth fell open but hurriedly she shut it. He could have told him about the Europol thing, he could have given her away, but he didn't. That silly idiot, she thought as she tried to hide her smile but unfortunately was caught spot-on by Danny. He broke into a suspicious grin and leaned forward.

"Are you two seeing each other?"

She burst into laughter, drawing the attention of other diners, but she didn't care. After the waiter had gone with Danny's cash (he had to avoid using his credit card unless he wanted real trouble), she reached for her glass and giggled to find that it was empty. "Andie!"

"Sorry, Dad. Where were we? Oh!" she giggled again. "No, Dad, we're not dating."

Danny sighed with extreme relief. "Thank God!"

"Why?"

He grinned. "I don't think he'd last a day with you. He's . . . too playful."

Andie shrugged. "So where are we going?"

Danny's face immediately turned serious. He folded his arms and gave the matter some thought. After a few seconds, he looked up at her and shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly. Copenhagen's not my turf."

She leaned back into her chair and grudgingly gave the matter some thought as well. Copenhagen wasn't her turf either. "You know, we shouldn't have come to Copenhagen in the first place," she said wryly. Danny snorted. "Too late."

"We've gotta get somewhere close to the Gallere, of course," Andie said slowly and toyed with her napkin. Danny sighed and gave her an of-course-you-idiot look. Her father had so many ironic looks dripping with sarcasm to spare her, but she had gotten so used to it she didn't care anymore.

"We've got to find a more discreet place."

Danny nodded slowly. "That's obvious. But her coming here means that she knows we're after the Diamond. I think, you know what I'm thinking of?"

She looked at him exasperatedly, "What?"

"We've got to move out of the immediate vicinities. You know, lodge ourselves in a small motel far away from the Gallere. She's definitely going to have the area checked."

"But how are we going to move the rest of our stuff out? Surely, if she was going to have the hotel checked for any sign of me – us – we would have enough evidence to put ourselves in jail."

Suddenly she remembered.

"My laptop! It's in my room!"

"Sush, honey. Rusty's going to save it."

Her eyebrows went up at that. How was she supposed to trust Rusty Ryan with her laptop? She had almost been able to figure out the code that allowed access to the build-up of the random laser beams. And, she had saved her progress in a folder that was conveniently titled: Gabanski. If Europol had gotten their hands on her laptop . . . now she thanked her lucky stars for actually bothering to save all her important data in a thumb-drive that was currently resting in her jeans pocket. Just to be sure, she felt inside her pocket and blew a sigh of relief when her fingers found the small gadget.

"At least I still have my thumb-drive," she whispered to herself, but Danny heard her.

He downed his wine in one swallow. "Cheers."

"Cheers," she replied dumbly. They stood and left the restaurant, jamming their fists into their coat pockets as they fought the cold, icy wind that whipped their faces.

"Dad! So where do we go? You reckon we should go back to the hotel to help the others?"

Danny shrugged. "She recognizes me, so if I go back there, I'm signing my own arrest warrant. But, hey, wait a sec," he stopped in his tracks and turned to face his daughter with a grin on his face. Andie knew instantly what he was thinking of.

"No, Dad. I like you, but I'm not crazy."

"Come on, Andie. Think about it! She doesn't even know that you exist!"

"Europol isn't one of those stupid goons you usually manage to con, Dad."

"You want our asses to be saved, don't you?"

"Yes, but I don't want to be the one doing it!"

"You were Juliet in fifth grade!" Danny's grin was definitely maniacal now. And Andie didn't like it.

Not one single, itsy, bitsy bit.

Isabel was definitely awake now. Goodbye, jetlag; hello, perfect sense.

"What is the name of the person again, Miss Lahiri?"

"Andromeda Ocean. A-N-D-R-O-M-E-D-A O-C-E-A-N."

The front desk manager typed the name nervously and hit the ENTER key. The receptionist stood behind the manager, her fingers clutched her skirt so tightly that Isabel was sure that after she had removed her fingers from her skirt, there would be finger clutch-marks on it. She had put on a good show of 'customer-information-is-strictly-confidential' in front of Isabel, even after she had shoved her Europol badge under her nose. Thank goodness the front desk manager was quick at noticing trouble and quickly adhered to her requests.

A 'ting' sounded from the computer and the front desk manager read aloud the information Isabel had requested. "Andromeda Theresa Danielle Ocean. Checked in four days ago. Room number: 511."

Gotcha.

Isabel smiled with satisfaction as she jotted down the information in a notebook. After that, she pocketed the notebook and was about to thank the front desk manager when she suddenly had a strange hunch.

"Excuse me, can you look up another name for me?"

"Of course, Miss Lahiri."

"Robert Charles Ryan. R-O-B-E-R-T C-H-A-R-L-E-S R-Y-A-N."

As they waited for the information to load, Isabel drummed her fingers impatiently for the outcome. Her heart was beating faster than usual. If Rusty was indeed staying in Rejdna, she was pretty sure that Danny Ocean was here as well. She made a mental note to ask the manager to look up Ocean's name later.

Just as the 'ting' popped from the computer, she felt a tap on her shoulder and a feminine voice calling her name. "Isabel Lahiri?"

She turned around and found a smiling young woman holding a brown envelope in her hands. She was slightly taller than Isabel and her hair was hidden under a black beret that matched her black coat which was tied close with a plain black belt. Her eyes were bright green.

"Yes, that's me. What can I do for you?"

"Good evening, Senior Agent Lahiri. I'm Junior Agent Rebekah Skorssen from the Copenhagen Operation Unit." And to prove it, she took out her purse from her coat pocket and showed Isabel her ID. Isabel took it and examined it carefully. As she did, Agent Skorssen spoke, in thick Danish accent, "We have just received orders from Senior Superintendent Klaus Harrsen of the Amsterdam Operation Unit. He said to inform Senior Agent Lahiri to cancel investigations on Andromeda Ocean." Isabel gave her a confused look as Agent Skorssen pocketed her ID and showed her the papers she had retrieved from the envelope.

What on earth? Isabel thought frantically as she scanned the official document and the signature of Klaus Harrsen. The signature was real enough. Was this the same man who had ordered her to fly to Copenhagen even when he knew she was on leave just two days ago? What was this man playing at?

She handed the document back to Agent Skorssen and smiled half-heartedly, just to give the junior agent a good impression. "I understand. Thank you very much for bringing me the information."

Agent Skorssen smiled and shrugged. "Orders are orders, even if they are troublesome. Oh, and one more thing, Senior Superintendent Harrsen also requests you to fly back to Amsterdam at once."

That was the final straw. "What? Now?"

Agent Skorssen nodded and smiled weakly. "Yes, I'm afraid so, Agent Lahiri. I'm sorry to be the one to bring you the bad news."

Isabel gave an angry huff and strode away furiously from the front desk, with Agent Skorssen following her closely. "Then what about my flight tickets?"

"Senior Superintendent Harrsen said that he would reimburse your money when you meet him at the Amsterdam Operation Unit Center." She looked a little uncomfortable after saying that, knowing that Isabel would not be cheered by that piece of news.

Cheers, rookie, Isabel thought dryly.

Agent Skorssen smiled sympathetically. "I'm very sorry, Agent Lahiri. I'm just taking orders."

Isabel smiled back at her. "That's all right. Will you be escorting me to the airport?"

The younger woman shook her head, still smiling. "I'm afraid I can't. I have to get back to the headquarters." She laughed somewhat nervously. Isabel laughed too, but she couldn't help feeling that something was out of place. Usually, no matter which European city she went, as long as there was an Europol headquarter there, she would be escorted by the respective unit from and to the airport. However, maybe the Copenhagen Unit was dealing with some unforeseen circumstances. But hey, she can take care of herself anyway.

Isabel shook the junior agent's hand. "Very well then. Thank you for the information."

"You're very welcome, Agent Lahiri."

As Isabel passed through the hotel doors, she glanced behind one more time to see if Junior Agent Skorssen was still there.

She was gone.

"I'm not doing that EVER AGAIN!"

Danny looked up, jolted by the slamming door. "Hey, Andie! How did it go?"

"Great, but I'm not going to do that again. NEVER!" Andie flung her beret onto the sofa, unbuckled the belt to her coat and threw it onto the floor. Danny laughed when he saw her bury her face in her hands and messed with her hair from across the coffee table.

"What did I tell you, Andie? You're a real pro."

"I impersonated an Europol agent," she moaned.

Danny laughed again and turned her laptop to face her. "That's my girl. I followed your instructions word by word and I think that I've managed to delete our names from the customer databank. Check for me, will ya?"

Andie removed her hands and sniffed as she drew the laptop onto her lap and typed away. Occasionally she rubbed her eyes and sniffed again. Danny sensed her discomfort and walked around the coffee table to sit beside her daughter. He put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze. "Hey, relax. It's over and done with. You told her to go home, and she's gone. You just saved our asses."

"Yeah, the hell you did." Andie looked up at the sound of Rusty's voice. He entered the room, grinning broadly. "That was some act you did to her in the lobby."

Andie laughed gruffly and returned her attention to the laptop screen. "I'm not proud of it."

Rusty chuckled and slumped onto the sofa opposite Danny and Andie. "Whatever you say, then. Danny, the replicas are safely out."

"That's great. Is everyone out with their baggage?"

"We've put everyone else on separate taxis, which they caught at separate locations."

Danny blew a sigh of relief. "That's great. To where?"

"Turk managed to find a small motel smack in the middle of the city. Hopefully there are rooms enough for us. Oh, and one thing, Yen said he thinks Isabel saw and recognized him."

"Shit."

"No kidding. But I guess as long as we stay as low as we can while we're in Cop, we should be all right."

"You got that right."

"Hey, guys," Linus entered the room hesitantly with his baggage and smiled tentatively at them. Danny and Rusty nodded in acknowledgement. Andie waved and smiled.

Instantly, his heart beat faster.

Rusty and Danny resumed their conversation without missing a beat.

"What's the name of the motel?"

"Very small, very discreet. Skedrie."

"Sounds good."

"It is. You've packed, haven't you?"

"No."

"I'll help with the harness. Come on."

Rusty smiled and winked at Andie before following Danny into the room, and unfortunately, Linus caught that.

Linus was someone Andie was quite comfortable with, but suddenly, with just the two of them left together in the living room of Danny's suite, the situation was tense and awkward. Andie found the Rejdna Hotel's customer databank and was pleased to find their names, especially hers, deleted from the list, and, satisfied, she shut her laptop.

Just as her laptop clicked close, Linus blurted out, "I like you."

Her head snapped up and she gave him a weird stare. She felt as if she had been properly doused with cold water. "What did you say?"

"N – nothing," he suddenly stammered, staring down at his hands, which were clutched tightly together.

"Come on, you said something. What did you mean by that?"

He shook his head furiously. "No, it's just, well, nothing. It's nothing," he smiled shakily at her, "Forget about it."

"Linus," she said gently. This nervous man needed gentle coaxing to get anything out of him. She set her laptop on the table and walked over towards where he sat and took the seat beside him. "You said that you liked me. Okay, what did you really mean by that?"

"I mean, well," he shrugged. "I, okay, I had this crush on you ever since I saw you, on Monday." He swallowed, and Andie was beginning to feel jumpy as well. Is he serious?

He continued slightly more steadily. "I mean, I think, I'm in love with you." He looked up and into her eyes. Andie resisted the urge to shove him away and run out of the suite, but she clenched her fists and forced her butt to remain on the sofa. However, she could not hide the feeling of anxiety from showing in her eyes.

He resumed anyway, growing more stable. "You're the only one who's treated me nicely, besides my parents, of course. You don't insult me just because I'm slightly more morally conscious, you always wait for me to leave a building even if I'm the last one to go, and you respect my opinion. I guess, well, I guess I fell in love with your kindness, your consideration, and, well, I want to be more than just your friend."

She was feeling more and more freaked out by the moment, but she was touched. No man had ever revealed his feelings to her this way. They had always tried to impress her with their masculine superiority, their charismatic grins and it's-okay-I'm-tougher-than-you-think behavior when they were facing difficulties. But Linus, he was one of the rare sensitive males, and well, she appreciated that. A lot.

Linus gulped again, and continued speaking, but his voice was growing lower by the second. "I, I know that I'm not as charming or suave as Rusty; I don't know how to be romantic, I don't know the best restaurants to eat, and I guess I'm not as confident as him too. But," he looked again into her eyes, and she was drowning in his earnest blue eyes, "I can work it out, I guess, if, if you give me a chance to be with you. I want to make you happy, I want to make you smile and laugh, and I want to take you out to dinner every weekend, and, I want to take long walks in the New England country roads with you. I, I want you to be part of my life, just as I want to be in yours." He drew a deep breath, and resumed, his voice definitely shaking, "Will, will you be my girl?"

That was a funny way to phrase it, but Andie was supremely touched. Who said Linus Caldwell wasn't able of being romantic. She drew a deep breath, and she made her decision.  
"I guess we can give it a shot," she said sheepishly, though not intending to sound so bashful, but she had never had any man ask her that way before. Maybe, maybe she should give him a chance. He was a sweet and loyal guy. He would make a nice boyfriend, maybe even husband material.

Unlike Rusty.

Stop thinking about Rusty!

Suddenly, Linus leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss caught her off guard, and just as fast as it had happened, it ended. He pulled back, breathing heavily and looked away, as if embarrassed. "I'm, I'm sorry."

But she put a hand on his face and turned it to face her. She surprised even herself when she kissed his lips, slowly and gently at first, then he opened up, and the kiss engulfed them both.

When she pulled away, she was as breathless as he. "Don't be sorry," she said. He grinned and pressed his nose to hers. "I won't if you aren't," he told her breathlessly before kissing her again.


	10. We Have Trouble

Author's note: I'm terribly sorry for the late update...was suffering from writer's block until I finally got to watch Ocean's 11! Yahoo! Anyway, enjoy this one...

Chapter 10

Skedrie was nice, but Rejdna was more convenient. Unless they wanted more exposure, Skedrie would have to do.

It was the morning after, the morning of day six. The replica was almost done, a most respectable effort from Virgil and Turk Malloy since they had managed to avoid any form of heavy argument between them throughout the process. With the harness tied onto his body, Yen tugged and pulled at the cable, making sure that it was as secure as possible. Frank held the cable down by squatting on it and gave ideas to Yen about how to bring the test one step further.

"Crash into the Malloys."

Yen gave him a questioning look. "_Wei sher muo?"_

"Yen, you freaking know I don't understand Chinese."

Yen grinned. "I was try to saying why?"

Frank sighed. "Just crash into Turk and Virgil."

Turk and Virgil looked at Frank. "What the hell for?" Turk asked. "Yeah, what are you playing at?" Virgil added. Turk glared at Virgil. "Why are you copying my lines?" "No, I wasn't." "You freaking was." "Shut it, Turk. You're just like a little girl." "I am so not a little girl!"

"Shut it, both of you, for the sake of humanity." They looked around and saw Andie Ocean, looking decidedly cross.

"Sorry, Miss Ocean." "Yeah, sorry."

Danny looked up from his discussion with Rusty and called to her from across the room. "Thank you, Andie."

"No problem."

Frank stared at Yen and Yen stared at Frank. Then Yen stood and folded his arms. "You still want me to crash?"

Frank glanced at the Malloys, and shook his head. "The cable's good."

"Yen drops into the room and replaces the Diamond with our replica. Then we pull him up just as the lasers zap back to life and we're out. It's flawless."

Danny scratched his chin. It was decidedly perfect. "But there's just one thing."

"What is it?"

Danny grinned but did not meet Rusty's eyes. "There's no zing in this plan. No boom, no bam."

Rusty laughed shortly. "I was thinking the same thing. But hey, you know, we can always go back to Vegas and rob the money that Benedict got back from the insurance company."

Danny smiled. "I think it's too late to turn back, don't you think, now that we've got a replica in the making and a cable."

"And a woman." Rusty glanced at Andie, who was seated on the couch, studying a complicated-looking screen on her laptop. Linus Caldwell sat beside her and they were in deep discussion. They looked so … cosy. And he saw that his hand was on hers, and that she was blushing and smiling that smile that lighted up her face. Rusty felt a strange ache in the pit of his stomach, and cleared his throat and looked away.

Danny noticed Rusty's discomfort and saw Linus and Andie, and he understood. He smiled and put a hand on his right hand man's shoulder. "I totally get what you're feeling now, Rusty."

Rusty did not meet his eyes, nor did he reply.

Danny tried again. "It's just like what I felt when Benedict was going out with Tess. I've been there and I've felt the pain. It's normal because I love Tess and I can't stand seeing her with someone else. And because it's normal, I'm not afraid to admit it." Danny gave Rusty an assuring gaze, even though he could not catch Rusty's eyes so that he could prove his point.

Rusty still did not answer him. Should he?

Danny decided to be more straightforward. "Do you have a thing for my daughter, Rusty?"

Rusty drew a sharp breath. How did –

"I'm hungry." He left Danny's side and grabbed his coat.

"Hey, Rusty. Rusty!"

Rusty glanced back at him, a blank look, before he opened the door and left.

"Dad?"

Danny cast a glance at his daughter.

Andie looked concerned. "Is everything okay?"

He stared at her and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Instead, he looked at her and tried to figure out what was it with women that could drive two best friends apart. Andie was beautiful, he admitted it, in a Tess way, and she had a sharpness and reckless streak that was definitely his. He smiled and nodded. "Everything's fine, honey."

There was a café not far from the motel: only two shops down, but Rusty needed a longer walk than that. He bought a cup of espresso and a sandwich and decided that by the time he had done one round around the block, they would be safely in his stomach to digest. And he could do more thinking about his sticky situation.

Why was he getting nervous around Andie? What was it about her that made his heart beat fast, and his hands all clammy? Luckily he was a good actor; thus he was able to mask his discomfort and anxiety around her with a confidence he would have thought almost impossible, if it wasn't for the need to save his face from admitting that he actually liked her. But look at what was happening now. Linus Caldwell, the rookie, the bundle-of-nerves and the morally-righteous, had took Andie for himself.

Almost as instantly as he thought it, he regretted it. He had no right to call Linus names, and it was true that Linus had more moral sense than he did. But sometimes, he can be such a pain in the neck: doing things that he wasn't supposed to.

He took a huge bite out of his sandwich and sipped his espresso. The combination was unpleasant but at least it was food. And then he remembered what Danny had told him, that it was all right to feel pain over a woman. He snorted. Yeah, right. If only they were truly worth it.

Then he thought about Isabel. His Izzy. She had come out of the blue to Copenhagen, and then, with the help of Andie Ocean, she had gone. Rusty saw the irony in the situation: Andie was chasing his thoughts away from Isabel. He had Isabel. Why the heck was he after Andie now? That's it, he thought, I've got Izzy. I've got no right to claim Andie Ocean, no matter how much I love her.

Love her? He stopped in his tracks. What the heck? Now he loved her?

He took the last bite out of his sandwich and gulped down the espresso. Perhaps all he needed to get Andie Ocean out of his mind was to call Izzy. Ask her what she was doing, and whether she missed him or not because he sure missed her and needed her to get a particular Ocean out of his mind. Then when she asked him, "Where are you?", he would lie to her face. "Oh, honey, I'm in Berlin, on, you know, business. Don't worry, I'll be back real soon." And then she would believe what he said and he was out of trouble.

But with Andie Ocean, he didn't need to lie. She shared his profession, she was into this Gabanski thing just as deeply as he was. She understood, at least a little bit, but she would probably share Tess's contempt for thieves, no matter how big or small. But Andie wasn't entirely like her mother. If Andie hated thieves, she wouldn't have agreed to help Danny out. Heck, perhaps they could even pull of heists together. He and Andie, they would make a great team. He smiled at that thought. But she was with Linus now. If Linus had social consciousness, so did he. He could refrain from Andie, and he would stop lying to Izzy when he got back to Amsterdam. He would convince her to quit Europol and they would settle down for good at Los Angeles, where he had his hotel.

His walk around the block was almost over, and he was glad that he had come to a decision, even though he was not entirely satisfied with it.

The door opened and Danny looked up, hoping to find a much happier Rusty. Instead, it was Basher and Livingston Dell. Basher carried a medium-sized box that seemed quite heavy and Livingston was grinning manically, something Danny had never seen before.

"What you guys got?"

"Photos," said Livingston. "Bombs," Basher said, with an excited glint in his eyes.

Danny crossed his eyebrows. "Bombs? Photos? What are you guys up to?"

Basher set the box in front of Danny and placed several mean-looking but surprisingly small bombs on the table before him. "I was thinking of this: there's a considerable amount of space in the ventilation tunnel, and well, instead of cutting through all that metal and wall, why not blow it up?" He held up a bomb. "This is a bomb, but not a powerful one. In fact, I can set it off now on this table and we still have a table. So, in order to speed things up, I thought that you guys can blow up some of these babies on the desired spot. That'll save a whole lot of trouble too." He grinned. "What do you think, eh, Danny boy?"

Danny picked a bomb up gingerly and smiled. "You're a genius, Basher. Just teach us how it works." He turned to Livingston and asked him, "What photos have you got?"

Livingston beamed, beamed because he was finally having his moment, and he laid the Polaroids out in front of Danny. "Basher and I paid a visit to the Gallere before we went to pick up the explosives. I happened to have a Polaroid camera with me, I don't know why, but I thought that it would be useful to snap some photos of the target spots, you know, our exits and entrance outside and inside the Gallere."

Danny studied the photographs and smiled with each and every one he saw. These were good shots, he thought. They might be useful as they didn't have a model of the building. "Good job, Livingston. These were well-shot."

"Danny." He looked up and saw Linus's worried expression. "What?"

"We've got bad news."

"We?"

"Andie and I."

"Oh. Well, what is it?"

Linus licked his lips before replying. "Someone's going to buy the Diamond."

"What?" Danny couldn't believe his ears, so did the whole crew. Exclamations of "which jerk did it?" "what the heck?" and "I don't believe it" exploded all over the room. Turk and Virgil Malloy threw down their gloves and shouted at each other.

"All right, stop yelling, all of you. Especially you, hey, Turk and Virgil!" The brothers noticed Danny's what-the-heck glare and immediately kept quiet. He turned back towards Linus. "Who's buying it?"

"An old acquaintance of yours, Dad," Andie answered his question. He looked at her questioningly. "Who exactly is that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Terry Benedict. The man you ripped off at Las Vegas. He just bought it for 11.5 million dollars."


End file.
